Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid vehicle, and particularly to a hybrid vehicle that travels while selecting one of a CD (Charge Depleting) mode and a CS (Charge Sustaining) mode.
Description of the Background Art
There is a known hybrid vehicle for which a user can select a power mode or an economy mode through an input switch. According to such a hybrid vehicle, the characteristics of the vehicle driving force (required power) relative to an accelerator pedal position is switched from a normal mode by selecting the power mode or the economy mode. When the economy mode is selected, the vehicle driving force is controlled such that the increase in the vehicle driving force relative to the increase in the accelerator pedal position is more gradual than in the case of the normal mode. Thereby, the vehicle can travel with low fuel consumption (for example, see Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-93335).
According to a hybrid vehicle that travels while selecting one of a CD mode in which an SOC (State Of Charge) of a power storage device is consumed and a CS mode in which the SOC is maintained to a prescribed level, the vehicle is required to travel particularly with low fuel consumption in the case of the CD mode in which the vehicle basically travels using energy stored in the power storage device. In the CD mode as described above, the so-called EV traveling is mainly employed, specifically, the vehicle travels using a motor while stopping an engine. In this case, however, since the engine operates when a relatively large vehicle driving force is required also in the CD mode, sufficiently low fuel consumption may not be able to be achieved. From this point of view, no consideration is taken in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-93335.